Activists arrested protesting Boreal Forest destruction

Four activists were arrested and charged with criminal mischief one hour ago for disrupting the Canadian headquarters of Kimberly-Clark. The volunteers with Greenpeace locked down inside the Kleenex manufacturer’s offices early this morning to peacefully protest the company’s destruction of the Boreal Forest in Ontario and Alberta. Other activists spread woodchips throughout the building and broadcast chainsaw noises, symbolizing the destruction of ancient forests. The organization promises further disruptions.

“Business as usual is unacceptable when that business means flushing ancient forests down the toilet,” said Christy Ferguson, one of the activists arrested. “Kimberly-Clark will continue to face disruptions like today’s protest if it doesn’t stop destroying  Canada’s Boreal Forest.”

This latest protest follows a series of confrontations with Kimberly-Clark in Europe, the United States, and Canada in an ongoing international campaign to get the world’s largest producer of tissue products to stop using virgin pulp from clearcut ancient forests to make toilet paper, facial tissue and napkins. All of the Kleenex brand products sold in North America are made from 100% virgin tree pulp, much of it from destructive logging operations in forests in Ontario and Alberta.

“Customers and shareholders of Kimberly-Clark are paying close attention to protests like the one today,” said Kim Fry, a Greenpeace forest campaigner. “Increasingly, we are seeing that they don’t want to do business with an environmentally irresponsible and controversial company.”

Large and small customers of Kimberly-Clark are cancelling their contracts with the company. To date more than 700 small businesses have pledged not to use Kimberly-Clark products and universities such as American and Rice have also ended their purchase of the company’s products. Shareholders, representing over 20 million dollars (US) of stock, have submitted a stockholder resolution on sustainable forestry for vote at the company’s next annual stockholder meeting in April. A similar resolution received the support of 1.5 billion dollars (US) worth of shares last year.

Stretching from Newfoundland to the  Yukon, Canada’s Boreal Forest comprises one quarter of the world’s remaining intact ancient forests. As the world’s largest land-based storehouse of carbon, the Boreal is essential in fighting global warming. It is home to numerous communities including hundreds of First Nations, many of which have never consented to logging in their traditional territories. The forest also provides essential habitat to hundreds of species of birds and animals including the endangered woodland caribou and wolverine.

Video and photos of the protest and forest destruction available